Native America, Discovered and Conquered:

In Miller’s work, we see that the Lewis and Clark Expedition’s epic journey west has different meanings for different people depending on their social role. For Jefferson it is a race to claim the great territory that lay beyond the Mississippi; ownership of these new lands assures the future wealth of his new nation. As a country and as a culture, we celebrate Lewis and Clark’s journey as the quintessential symbol of a mythic westward expansion promising the common person opportunities for adventure as well as a unique chance for land and prosperity compelling ideas that remain to this day in the imagination of people around the world. Miller demonstrates that freedom and opportunity for some means death and destruction for others: newfound wealth beyond human imagination at the expense of thriving indigenous cultures and their peoples. Hardcover, 214 pages